[Zheez]

Didn't know there was one with built in CarPlay, that's pretty cool.

As I mentioned in one of the other threads, I took delivery of an Avin Android 9.0 unit the other day. PX6, 4GB RAM and 1280x480 screen and it replaced an Avin Android 7.1 unit. I've had it in my car for 4 days now and have driven a good 800 miles so I've had a bit of a play around with it. Initial impressions:

1). It's a lot quicker than the Android 7 unit. It boots quicker, it loads apps a lot quicker and it's generally more responsive.

2). The anti-glare screen makes a noticeable difference. The weather in the UK is generally crap but it's been pretty hot and sunny here in recent weeks and there's been many times where I've literally been able to see nothing on my 7.1's display in the bright sun. It seems to be a lot better with this 9.0 unit. The screen itself does seem to have a slight blue tinge to it though, which I didn't have on the 7.1 screen. It doesn't bother me but it is noticeable.

3). GPS actually works now. My 7.1 unit's GPS was useless. Not sure why, but I tried 2 different antennas in different locations, resetting it to stock a few times, different software versions and various different apps but I only ever managed 5-6 satellites and the location would drop out regularly. It now frequently has 12+ satellites and location is always accurate. However when taking the 7.1 unit out of the car, I did notice that the connector on the antenna wasn't looking too good so that is a possibility - but I did have issues with the original Avin supplied antenna too.

4). Black bezel is a gloss black. It looks great and better than the silver, but I'd prefer it to be a matte black because gloss black is always a fingerprint magnet.

5). Wifi on my unit may not be quite as good as it was on my 7.1 unit. My driveway is a fair distance from the house and the car only just gets wifi signal from there so that was never the best way to tell. But I drove to my parents' house today where I can park a lot closer to their AP and when parked up in the same place my 7.1's wifi worked, whereas on this 9.0 unit it seems to be a lot slower and unstable. Even when I ran a cable and moved the AP to within about 2 metres/6 feet of my car it still only had 2 bars of signal, but it was at least quick and reliable at that point.

6). Aside from wifi, everything seems to work well for me. I've had no problems at all which is always nice. I'm using wireless CarPlay with a Carlinkit USB dongle rather than the Avin one and it works perfectly. After updating AutoKit and the USB dongle's firmware it works reliably with iOS 13 beta too.

I do kind of wish I'd gone for the higher resolution screen but this one still looks great. However, I wonder what the original BMW UI would look like on the higher res screen? Obviously everything would have to be scaled up so it might look a little blurred. I'd be interested in seeing whether it is or not.

Also, I have yet to find any update packages for these 9.0 units around anywhere. I requested access to 9.0 downloads via the Avin portal last week but I've not had any response to it yet which is surprising as they sorted out access for 7.1 downloads very quickly.